2023 is a good year for the blockchain industry. The market welcomes the multiple help of Bitcoin spot ETF, halving narrative, Ordinals inscription, and public chain recovery, allowing BTC to continue to write new highs this year, once exceeding 45,000 Dollar.
While the market is sounding the clarion call for the return of the bull market, Taiwan's blockchain industry, which has a solid technical foundation and a strong community, continues to show its profound development strength and leadership to the world.
Entering its fifth year, the "Taiwan Annual Influence Selection" has continued to expand its influence since its launch in 2019, attracting the attention of experts, technology developers, investors and start-up companies in various fields; this selection is not only an Recognizing Taiwan’s record of outstanding contributors to the blockchain is an important indicator to promote communication, cooperation and innovation within the industry.
This expansion of the activity area invites industry experts, community leaders, and VCs to participate in the nomination and selection, and select big names who have made significant contributions in various fields such as Web3 applications, enterprises, NFT, VC, policy promotion, community influence, etc. ( Divided into two selections: "Industry Leaders" and "Community KOLs"), these thought leaders are invited to share with readers their key market predictions and Web3 trend observations in 2024.
Statement: The annual selection of influential figures in the dynamic zone is based on the person's achievements, deeds, mass influence, and industry impact in the past year. The following rankings are not ranked. However, the currency market is constantly changing, and the dynamic zone can only ensure the positive influence of the person in the past and even now, but it does not guarantee the future performance or behavior of the people selected on this list, nor does it constitute investment advice.
Industry leaders and influential figures
Evan Cheng / Sui Co-Founder, CEO of Mysten Labs
- The public chain Sui mainnet was launched in early May 2023. The native token $SUI soared from US$0.1 to US$2 at the time of opening trading, and it is now among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
- Sui's Defi ecosystem has accumulated more than 20 projects, with TVL exceeding US$200 million.
- Sui development company Mysten Labs has raised over US$330 million under Evan’s leadership to date.
Evan 2024 predictions and observations:
Bullish sentiment persists in 2024 due to Bitcoin ETFs, institutional investor interest, and rate cut expectations
The market in early 2024 is driven by retail panic and narrative, which will gradually shift to focus on value creation. Consumer Web3 products and enterprise adoption will drive a sharp increase in developer activity.
Sui will lead the way as a platform for building complex consumer and commercial web3 products
Extended reading: How does Sui solve the pain points of Ethereum and achieve "true freedom on the chain"? Exclusive interview with Evan Cheng, CEO of Mysten Labs
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Ge Rujun (Dr. Bao)/ Candidate for the 11th Kuomintang non-district legislative committee, host of "Bao Bo Friends Talk"
- The host of the podcast "Baobo Friends Talk" often talks with key figures in the Web3 industry, and brings popular science knowledge about blockchain and NFT to listeners through interesting conversations.
- Candidates for the 11th Kuomintang non-district legislative committee, hoping to bring the spirit of Web3 into the Legislative Yuan
Ge Rujun 2024 predictions and observations
The Bitcoin craze has revived, and the term NFT has gradually been forgotten. However, digital collectibles have gradually been accepted by art circles, museums and auction companies and expanded the market; national nodes and city-state-level DAO organizations have begun to appear, and the wave of AI artificial intelligence has possessed robots. After a resurgence, Apple and Meta began to dominate the Metaverse Genesis.
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Jamie Lin / AppWorks Chairman and Partner
- AppWorks Funds manages four venture capital funds totaling US$350 million and has so far cultivated 5 IPO projects, 4 IEOs, and 5 unicorns.
- The AppWorks Web3 ecosystem currently has 129 startups and 305 founders. These Web3 companies have combined revenue of $865 million, raised $1 billion, and have a total valuation of $13.2 billion.
Lin Zhichen 2024 Predictions and Observations
As we expected last year, in 2023 we saw a large number of builders continue to work hard to solve major problems and develop new applications for Web3, especially in Layer-2, ZK, cross-chain, account abstraction, decentralized derivative financial products, etc. , there has been significant progress.
Looking forward to 2024, the Bitcoin ETF will be listed on the US stock market, the Cancun update that brings Ethereum into the Proto-Danksharding era of expansion will be the two highlights of the first quarter, and the halving of Bitcoin mining rewards will be the second quarter. Major milestone.
As the ecosystem matures, we believe that more "general public applications" will emerge, making people feel comfortable moving to the blockchain. In addition, under the increasingly clear regulatory framework, we also expect that large enterprises will have a more positive attitude towards the adoption of blockchain technology and accelerate the popularity of Web3 through their huge user base.
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Xie Mingjie/Chairman of ASUS Yuanverse and Chief Operating Officer of ASUS
- Actively promoting the establishment of ASUS Metaverse, his leadership style is not only reflected in his keen insight into the market potential of Web3 and blockchain, but also demonstrates his firm belief in leading the company to integrate into the culture of the younger generation. This move not only brings ASUS into the emerging technology field, but also opens the door to the future digital economy for the company.
Xie Mingjie 2024 Predictions and Observations
2024 will witness the combination of AI and Web 3.0, which will profoundly change the experience of content creation, metaverse and digital application services. Virtual-real integration and user-friendly operation will make Web3 an indispensable part of our lives. We look forward to this era bringing a smarter and more intuitive digital experience, allowing us to move more freely between virtuality and reality.
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Winston Hsiao / Convener of Taiwan VASP Association Preparatory Group
- In 2023, we are committed to promoting the establishment of the "Virtual Currency Business Association of the Republic of China" . We have submitted an application to the Ministry of the Interior in December and are expected to be officially established in 2024.
- In 2022, he co-founded the Unitas Foundation and served as a director, developing a decentralized unit currency protocol and committed to accelerating foreign investment and cross-border payments in developing countries.
Xiao Huizong 2024 Predictions and Observations
2024 marks an important watershed for the cryptocurrency industry. As regulation gradually takes shape, the cryptocurrency industry will truly be divided into two tracks: "centralization" and "decentralization." The former must comply with regulations, while the latter will receive additional With the injection of resources, we can implement more disruptive and larger-scale innovations.
As supervision matures, I expect that a large amount of resources will begin to be introduced into decentralized construction. These two tracks will benefit from a healthier resource allocation, and ultimately achieve mutual balance, push and balance.
Looking back on the past, in an environment with no or low supervision, "regulatory arbitrage" was the most important industry dividend, and such benefits would automatically attract resources. Although industry players and investors are in an essentially decentralized industry, they naturally tend to focus on interests and develop towards centralization. What's more, they excessively control power to obtain undeserved benefits. This also leads to the development of products and services. There are still some elements of decentralization, but the actual business model is mostly centralized.
Centralized services occupied most of the resources in the era of barbaric growth, which also made the infrastructure construction in the decentralized field progress slowly, and there is still a lack of substantial large-scale applications. The global regulatory environment is gradually maturing. Only compliance players can continue to move forward on the centralized track and obtain tickets to compete in the arena.
However, the technical essence of blockchain is decentralization. This technology will not disappear or slow down due to regulation. On the contrary, it will accelerate the construction of decentralized infrastructure in response to regulation. The track of decentralization will inevitably follow the regulation. The stronger the force, the faster it develops.
It has been 15 years since the invention of Bitcoin. I have predicted that 2023 will be the "first year of self-compliance" for exchanges. I am honored to serve as the convener of the preparatory group of the Taiwan VASP Association from September. Taiwan's supervision has shifted from money laundering prevention to From the Financial Supervisory Commission's guiding principles to the establishment of the Association, the next step is to formulate and implement self-regulatory norms after the Association is formally established, so as to facilitate Taiwan's future reference whether it is enacting special laws or citing existing regulations.
Not only that, XREX also became the first virtual asset operator in Taiwan to successfully obtain in-principle approval for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2023. It can be seen from all of this that when blockchain technology begins to "change human behavior," in order to maintain the steady progress of society, the law must begin to "restrict human behavior" and maintain new technological innovation within a clear and reasonable framework. At the same time, it can protect the rights and interests of most people without stalling or losing control.
Looking at the past history of mankind, when a new technology that can change the economic and social operation model comes out, the impact and changes it brings are huge and even earth-shaking. The Internet is the best example in the contemporary era. What it changes is just The way humans obtain information has completely changed human behavior and social operation models. Our shopping, making friends, connections, and even industrial operation models have all changed because of this technology.
Blockchain technology will not be an exception. It changes the way people operate consensus and transfer value. However, from finance, data storage to the transfer of power, etc., it will bring us unimaginable changes.
When supervision and compliance become an irreversible wave, businesses that want to join the competition on the centralized track must obtain tickets. Businesses that want to develop decentralization no longer have room for ambiguity and must truly invest resources and energy. , and 2024 is this watershed. The days when anyone could rush into the jungle and fight guerrillas without rules are over.
Now, as governments around the world begin to impose varying degrees and levels of supervision and issue licenses, businesses must obtain tickets to enter one arena after another. Participants may include traditional financial institutions, new startup teams, emerging technology manufacturers, or There are various businesses and business scopes, and everyone must charge forward within certain scope and conditions to open up a broad road of their own.
Those who are unwilling to participate in such ticket-based qualifying competitions and arena regulations must move to a decentralized world in an all-round way. Both centralization and decentralization no longer accept the so-called "half-system" model. The fuzzy space is gradually disappearing, and in 2024 everyone must make clear choices and statements when this watershed is drawn.
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Jiang Yongchang/New Taipei City Legislator, this year promotes the virtual asset management bill
- Sponsor of the crypto-specific "Virtual Asset Management Bill"
- Promote the draft special law to be sent to the Legislative Yuan for first reading and approval
Jiang Yongchang 2024 Forecast and Observation
The supervision and legal system of the blockchain industry will definitely be a top priority next year: considering the innovation of this industry and the various controversies involved in some areas, some commentators point out that investor protection is the most important; and linked to this is money laundering, Relevant measures to prevent fraud and crime, as well as clear definitions of legal compliance, all involve the rapid and appropriate establishment of the supervision legal system.
The Association will be established this year (2023). According to the Financial Supervisory Commission, it has publicly stated that it will observe the overall industry situation after the establishment of the Association before deciding on the next supervisory action; however, the recent application of virtual assets in finance and the overall expansion of the virtual asset market have made the Financial Supervisory Commission It is our duty to discuss the structure of virtual asset laws. Overall, in 2024, my country's virtual asset industry will be able to engage in more projects and the market will develop more vigorously.
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Simon Dai / Deputy General Manager of Far East Commercial Bank Digital Finance Business Group
- The "2023 Virtual Asset Survey" was launched to reveal Taiwan's various generations' understanding of virtual assets, investment preferences, profitability, information sources, and attitudes towards regulatory supervision.
- Promote banks and virtual asset exchanges to work together and move forward in the four major directions of "detection, notification, control, and improvement" to reduce the occurrence of money laundering fraud and effectively control it.
Dai Songzhi 2024 predictions and observations:
1. Top blockchain talents lead Taiwan into the world
Looking back on 2023, the Taiwan VASP Association is already making intensive preparations. We look forward to seeing the association begin concrete operations in 2024. Through industry cooperation, we will accelerate the development of Taiwan's blockchain industry and move the industry in a healthier and better direction. go ahead.
Taiwan has the best blockchain professionals. We look forward to seeing the formation of a national blockchain dream team in 2024 after more intensive horizontal integration, making a big move into the world, allowing more blockchain-related applications to be developed. Everyone can have a place in Taiwan, and it is no longer just an exclusive stage for overseas companies. Therefore, in 2024, we look forward to seeing the National Dream Team leap onto the international stage and enter the Blockchain World Cup, allowing the world to see more Taiwanese unicorns shine.
2. Integration of traditional finance and cryptocurrency industries to create a safer and more convenient trading environment
After Bankee released the "2023 Virtual Asset Survey" to gain insight into the profile and needs of users, it found that "security" and "convenience" are the items that users value most; in 2024, it will gather the ideas of VASP operators, professional institutions, and customers and insights, and further released the "2024 Industry Survey Report". I believe that all parties working together to firmly take root in the three stages of compliance, trust, and popularization can promote the vigorous development of the blockchain industry ecosystem and open up the "New Yuan" of Taiwan's blockchain industry. Year".
3. Banks should give full play to their strengths and build a more complete joint prevention mechanism to reduce the incidence of money laundering fraud.
In 2023, Bankee proposed four joint prevention mechanisms of "detection, notification, control and refinement" to horizontally connect exchange operators, grasp abnormal transactions and report them in real time, effectively prevent money laundering fraud cases through accounting control procedures, and eliminate illegal transactions. , and through big data analysis, we will continue to optimize and improve the security level. We hope that more industry players will participate in 2024, implement joint prevention mechanisms, and create a safe and convenient transaction environment for users.
4. Ushering in the "new first year" of Taiwan's blockchain, improving the compliance of the cryptocurrency industry ecosystem will bring trust, and trust will be popularized!
The advent of Taiwan's VASP guiding principles at the end of 2023 has given virtual asset platform operators a clearer direction to follow. We believe that only on the basis of compliance can users' trust be established, thereby strengthening the public's willingness to invest and making blockchain more popular. Only when the application enters the lives of more people can it be truly popularized.
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Alex Liu / Founder and CEO of MaiCoin Group
- MaiCoin is Taiwan's oldest digital asset trading group. Its brands include MaiCoin digital asset trading platform, MAX digital asset exchange, AMIS account network blockchain technology and Qubic NFT technology integration services.
- The cryptocurrency payment service " MaiPay " was launched this year. Users can conduct transactions through BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, MAX and other tokens, increasing the application scenarios of crypto payments.
Liu Shiwei 2024 Predictions and Observations
Bitcoin will be halved in 2024. Looking back, the past three bullish and bullish ups and downs are all related to the timing of Bitcoin’s halving. In addition, in 2023, many financial institutions in the United States submitted applications to the SEC for Bitcoin spot ETFs. The market is beginning to move in the fourth quarter. In addition to the expected price fluctuations, the application for Bitcoin spot ETF also shows that traditional financial institutions recognize the virtual currency industry to a certain extent. These events are signs that virtual currency is becoming mainstream. I believe that 2024 will be a lively and positive year.
2023 is also the year when regulation in various countries begins to ferment. In addition to Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, etc., respectively releasing relevant regulatory regulations, the U.S. SEC also conducted a wave of sweeps against virtual currency-related businesses, and Taiwan’s virtual currency industry. We have also experienced the release of guiding principles, the formation of associations, and the passage of the first reading of the virtual currency law. It seems to be a wave of serious damage and limitations to the industry, but in the long run, I think it is a prelude to the coexistence of virtual currency and the system. It is expected that the industry will be healthier and more people will be willing to join the market.
In addition, we have also seen that traditional financial institutions are beginning to join the battle through green electricity STO, Bitcoin spot ETFs, virtual currency payments, etc. Based on the decentralization of blockchain technology and the characteristics of cross-border transactions of virtual currency with no time difference, I think This year will begin to see more institutions begin to use “tokenization” to innovate services, create liquidity, and reduce operating costs. In the near future, we should see more real world assets (RWA), supply chain finance, carbon Discussions and successful cases of rights trading, stablecoins, etc., and this will also be an opportunity for Taiwan to become one of many nodes. I believe that blockchain technology and virtual currency will have the potential to become Taiwan’s next important industry.
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Matt Cheng / Founder of Xinyuan Capital
- Xinyuan Capital focuses on angel and seed-stage startup teams and invests in many Web3 teams in the United States and Asia. Its current management scale exceeds US$400 million.
- Before Matt founded Xinyuan Capital, he co-founded Tiange Interactive and Yuxuan Technology (now 91APP), and served as a consultant for Wish, the world's largest cross-border e-commerce company, and Atomic VC, a well-known American venture capital. He is the earliest investor in 12 of the world's top unicorns, including Flexport, Calm, Hims & Hers and Paidy.
Zheng Boren 2024 Predictions and Observations
I think one of the biggest learnings from the unpredictable 2023 is – don’t try to predict the market.
However, what we can do is find out what are the possible market signals and speculate on the possible development direction in 2024 from some existing signs. Here are three aspects that I think deserve attention:
1/ Technology integration of AI and blockchain AI and blockchain can be said to be the two most exciting technological innovations in the technology circle in the past few years, and generative AI will once again allow people to realize the power of this technology in 2023 .
Many people believe that integrating AI with blockchain technology will help the development of the blockchain industry, for example: strengthening the security of the blockchain through AI debugging, and integrating the data held on the blockchain. Data combined with AI analysis enhances the capabilities of enterprises or organizations in data analysis and insights. I think in 2024, we are expected to see more relevant practical cases.
2/ Bitcoin spot ETF is expected to be approved, with more and more large institutions, including Blackrock, Wisdom Tree, Invesco and Franklin Templeton Investments (Franklin Templeton)… Waiting for the ETF application to be submitted to the SEC, I think the probability of the Bitcoin spot ETF being approved in 2024 will also increase relatively.
If passed, it can be expected that Bitcoin's visibility among traditional investors and retail investors will be greatly increased, and it will have the opportunity to "break out of the circle". In addition to pushing up the price, it can also eliminate to some extent some of the concerns that have hung over Bitcoin in the past. Negative stereotypes. However, how to balance it with the concept of decentralization is a challenge on another level.
3/ Bank of America is accelerating its embrace of tokenized payments. Following on from the above, as cryptocurrencies begin to interact with traditional financial markets, we will also have the opportunity to see more new sparks in 2024.
In 2023, Paypal, the most well-known payment giant in the United States, has taken the lead in launching tokenized payments, and then JPMorgan Chase also joined the battle. It can be expected that in 2024 we will have the opportunity to see more US banks launch related services to accelerate their development in the field of cryptocurrency.
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Po Chen / TonX Studio Co-Founder
- Founded TonX Studio to promote the development of the TON ecosystem, and has so far incubated infrastructure such as encryption wallet TonKey, domain name service TonDaddy, and Tonstake...
- Co-founder of the world's largest Chinese community "Bitcoin Chinese Community", the community's Facebook community has grown to nearly 163,000 people by the end of 2023
- Since 2014, he has published more than ten papers on Bitcoin topics and is the earliest Bitcoin and blockchain scholar in Taiwan.
Chen Bowei 2024 Predictions and Observations
Bitcoin's Taproot has gone from concept to implementation. In 2023, we will see it move from implementation to life. We are very happy to see the emergence of BRC 20. We also see RGB, Lightning Network teams, etc., and more people are starting to work on it. Pay attention, invest, develop. Soon we will see more major asset issuances in Bitcoin's L1, and we will see many applications of Bitcoin Layer 2 in 24 years.
I am still very curious. Bitcoin is a silent whale, and 24 years will be the year it awakens.
Telegram is the second largest chat software in the world, and TON is the fastest blockchain in the world. It completed the test of 100,000 TPS per second in 2023. The main network triggered sharding and processed tens of millions of transactions. At the same time, in Token 2049, the relationship between Telegram and TON was announced. Soon we can see that Telegram, which has 1.4 billion users, will be equipped with the built-in TON Wallet by default.
Telegram will not only be a chat, but also a payment, and it will be the entrance to Web3. In the future, Telegram will have Telegram Mini App Store, and a life-oriented APP store will appear. In order to carry billions of usage, we are committed to creating a highly stable and high-speed TON API - TonFura, and writing SDK development in multiple languages. Tools to prepare for future outbreaks.
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Jason Fang / Founder of Sora Ventures
- Sora Ventures manages two funds with a portfolio of more than 80 companies
- Host the Sora Summit 2023 "Bitcoin Ecosystem" summit, inviting key guests including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Ordinals protocol developer Casey Rodarmor, and BRC20 creator Domo.
Jason 2024 Predictions and Observations
Recent analysis of the Bitcoin market points out that under the current macroeconomic environment, the Bitcoin application ecosystem has great potential in the next bull market. Particularly when it comes to the Ordinals market, although trading volumes in this space have increased recently, its overall size remains small.
I believe that the development of the Ordinals protocol is critical to increasing the value of Bitcoin, and this is what will drive the value of Bitcoin beyond its previous highs.
In addition, the next phase of Bitcoin will introduce utility tokens to the network, bringing about a situation the industry has never seen before. In the history of Web3, the dominant narrative of each bull market has never been repeated, so I think the next bull market will be reflected in Bitcoin's utility.
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Angela / Oak Grove Ventures Partner, NGC Ventures Research Partner
- Oak Grove Ventures is a company focused on early-stage investments in Web3, artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology. Its past investments include Gemini, Opensea, Animoca Brands, Near and other projects.
- NGC Ventures manages more than $500 million in assets and invests in early-stage Web 3.0 infrastructure, new startups and projects.
Angela 2024 Predictions and Observations
1. Bitcoin Ecosystem
By 2024, I expect Bitcoin’s native DeFi capabilities to expand significantly beyond the limitations of ERC-20. The development of Bitcoin layer 2 and the development of Bitcoin native will play a decisive role. For Bitcoin Ordinals, as more builders enter the space, we may see the community expand to other protocols beyond the Brc20 standard (such as the Tap protocol).
2. Decentralized artificial intelligence infrastructure: the integration of blockchain and artificial intelligence
This includes using zero-knowledge machine learning (zkML) protocols to provide privacy-preserving artificial intelligence solutions. Decentralized storage and enhanced data availability mechanisms will further support these infrastructures. These advances can facilitate more secure, efficient and scalable artificial intelligence operations on blockchain networks.
3. Growth of consumer Dapps: driven by the Asian market
2024 will mark a major shift in the dApp landscape, with adoption in Asian markets driving a surge in consumer-focused apps, particularly in the casual gaming and social space. The Asian market, known for its rapid adoption of technological innovations, will be at the forefront of this transformation, setting new standards for dApp usability and functionality. Infrastructure that can support mass adoption and better user experiences (such as account abstraction) will have more use cases
4. Modular application-specific blockchain In my thesis, as the industry becomes more and more application-centric. We can see more super apps motivated to have their own chains with the help of modular infrastructure
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Titan Cheng / Co-founder and CEO of Bito Group
- BitoPro will launch the first "mobile phone sensor" NFC card cold wallet at the end of 2023. It has military safety specifications and can save private keys offline.
- Cooperating with FamilyMart, FamilyMart members are allowed to exchange points into Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USDT, etc.
- Develop the original patented TT Check gift card to realize more diverse application levels of virtual currency.
Zheng Guangtai 2024 Predictions and Observations
Regulation is implemented, and traditional financial institutions gradually embrace digital currency. The establishment of the VASP Association in 2024 is definitely a major milestone for Taiwan’s currency circle. Once regulation is implemented, it can be expected that traditional financial institutions and cryptocurrency development will be more "integrated". With the foundation, people's acceptance will increase, and more diverse application scenarios will enter people's lives. We look forward to the sparks inspired by the "rigor" of traditional finance and the "innovation" of digital currency!
Digital currency payments will have more usage scenarios. According to statistics from Statista, digital currency payments are expected to grow at an average annual compound growth rate of nearly 17% between 2022 and 2029, with an expected transaction volume of up to US$4.12 billion.
We are optimistic about this emerging payment method, and the traditional financial payment system will gradually integrate digital currency payment services. The advantages of digital currency payment are:
(1) Immediacy: Consumers can pay anytime, anywhere, without geographical restrictions, and the payment is received instantly.
(2) Transparency: Transaction records are open and transparent on the chain and cannot be tampered with.
(3) Low handling fees: The transaction fees that merchants and consumers must pay may be much lower. PayPal charges nearly 4% or more per transaction, but the handling fees for some Bitcoin transactions are less than 1%. . Tokenization of real assets Tokenization of real assets is a key to the popularization of blockchain, that is, the ownership of valuable assets in the real world, such as carbon rights, is very suitable for transactions on the blockchain in a tokenized manner .
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Audrey / Orderly Network CGO, Founder of Radiance Ventures
- Orderly Network provides the Web3 team with comprehensive dApp tools and the liquidity required to quickly deploy complex full-chain trading applications, with a cumulative trading volume of over US$500 million.
- Radiance Ventures is a blockchain investment fund dedicated to accelerating blockchain progress, reshaping the interactivity of digital assets and stimulating the growth of the entire Web3 field.
Audrey 2024 Predictions and Observations
Bitcoin ecological renaissance, Bitcoin ETH and Defi summer 2.0:
In 2023, under the asset issuance protocols such as BRC-20, the Bitcoin ecosystem will transform a single satoshi into a unique digital asset through the inscription process, reshaping the transaction nature of Bitcoin; in promoting the integration of Bitcoin into Ethereum and Solana areas The emergence of tBTC, a product of the blockchain, has driven the interaction between Bitcoin and DeFi applications.
According to Galaxy research in October this year, institutional funds currently hold 842k BTC (~$22B), while the current potential market for wealth management assets such as broker-dealers, banks, etc. is US$48.3T. Compared with the beginning of the year to the end of November, Bitcoin The inflow of exchange products (ETP) is $1.5B. It can be imagined that under the premise that the Bitcoin ETF is approved, only 0.003% of the potential market is needed to double the annual inflow of funds into BTC.
Given these significant developments and the momentum accumulated over the past year, the foundation is set for a potentially explosive growth trajectory in 2024. Toward the Financialization of Social Experience Since the Defi Summer, Web3.0 has been highly overlapping with financial attributes, coupled with the learning difficulty and low stickiness of most Defi products, resulting in limited expansion of the incremental market.
Observing the current industrial ecology, many social projects are looking for opportunities to cooperate with traditional industries. For example, in the NFT track, Pudgy Penguins made NFT dolls and put them on the shelves of 2,000 Walmart stores in the United States. This is a successful case of virtual and real integration. The trading track is also constantly nurturing projects that combine social attributes. Take DCT (Dream Come True) as an example. Its platform for social trading plus AI intelligent assistant tools will be launched in the first quarter of next year.
At the same time, there are many companies and well-known IPs in the Web2 field entering the track. For example, the NFT project Moonbox has officially obtained the exclusive authorization for NFT creation of three film and television works by the genius director Xing Ye. The entertainment industry has also become an indispensable part of the development path of Web 3.0 social networking. Pulse Events, a well-known concert organizer in North America, is also exploring the possibility of combining physical concerts with Web3 with Radiance Ventures. Earlier, Pulse Events has cooperated with BIGBANG, EXO Waiting for Korean artists to collaborate on large-scale tours.
Cross-border cooperation in the entertainment industry is expected to disrupt the existing Web3 market. In the coming year, in addition to the GameFi ecosystem, which is still steadily investing, we can foresee many web3 experiments in different areas of life. Among them, the business design of points and loyalty in the NFT and tokenization system may be a breakthrough for existing The social field brings a new closed loop of financial attributes.
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Wayne Huang / Co-founder of XREX
- In 2023, XREX became the first company in Taiwan to obtain in-principle approval from Singapore's important financial license "Major Payments Institution" (MPI), opening up a major barrier for cross-border crypto payments.
- He co-founded the Unitas Foundation and serves as a director, developing a decentralized unit currency protocol and committed to accelerating foreign investment and cross-border payments in developing countries.
- The Pre-A round completed NT$470 million in financing and received investment from heavyweight institutions such as Japan's SBI Investment, Canada's ThreeD Capital, and Germany's Global Founders Capital.
Huang Yaowen 2024 predictions and observations
In 2024, we expect to see the expanded application of stablecoin and central bank digital currency (CBDC) technologies in cross-border payments and settlements.
In addition to large traditional financial institutions and international payment providers, such as JPMorgan Chase, VISA, MasterCard, and Paypal, it will also include national sovereign and government agencies.
With the rapid changes in regional politics, the rapid development of the global south and emerging markets, and the rise of financial hubs in the Middle East, the demand for transnational payment and settlement systems to seek alternatives to SWIFT has surged. This is also the current individual-to-individual (C2C), business-to-business (B2B), financial institution-to-financial institution (F2F), and government-to-government (G2G) are big pain points. Blockchain will be the best solution to this financial pain point.
In the 15 years since the advent of blockchain technology, many different innovations and crazes have emerged, including the initial coin offering (ICO) craze in 2017, DeFi Summer in 2020, NFT craze in 2022, and the recent Bitcoin The craze for inscriptions is all vivid in my mind. Almost every vigorous party ended without any success, and many even came to an abrupt end due to the market crash.
To this day, stablecoins are probably the only ones that have found product-market-fit (PMF). It has been 9 years since the world's first stablecoin USDT was issued in 2014. Its initial purpose was to trade cryptocurrencies. Today, USDT and other stablecoins have entered the real world and become a way for ordinary people to maintain asset value and handle cross-border transactions. It is an important tool for payment and even the pursuit of financial autonomy. The reasons behind it include: the country's central bank is fragile, the banking system is unstable, currency depreciation is severe, inflation is increasing, the economy is unstable, and even conflicts and wars.
In 2023, XREX held the first Stablecoin Summit (Stablecoin Summit 2023) in Singapore. At that time, I talked with Paolo Ardoino, CEO of stablecoin issuer Tether. He shared that the new coronavirus broke out around the world three years ago, and the epidemic caused many Several countries have experienced severe inflation and currency depreciation. For example, the Turkish lira depreciated 80% in 18 months. The situation in Argentina, Venezuela, Middle East and Central Asian countries can be said to be even worse.
USDT has become a channel for emerging markets to obtain U.S. dollars. These are not for trading arbitrage or getting rich through currency speculation, but for supporting their families and economic security. Stable coins have become one of the ways for people in developing countries to live a stable life.
According to Chainalysis data, more than $2.26 billion worth of USDT flows and is transferred on the blockchain every week for the purpose of investing, buying and selling, or paying for products and services. Stablecoins are still an important trading medium in the cryptocurrency industry. Among the hundreds of millions of stablecoin users around the world, many are not so-called “currency people”. Some of them are small and medium-sized business owners, some are micro-merchants, and many even just need care. The breadwinner of the family provides food and clothing for the whole family.
In 2024, we will not only see more performances and applications of stablecoins in the "non-currency circle", I predict that under the situation of rising geopolitical risks and in the chaos that many wars still cannot calm down, there will be more National-level projects initiated or participated in create a cross-border clearing and settlement system other than SWIFT to ensure the stability and autonomy of trade and cash flow in and out. Blockchain technology and stable coins are bound to be part of this new cross-border clearing and settlement system. , the two most important roles.
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Lu Zijian JOSH / BINGX Asia Pacific Commercial Director
- BingX has provided spot, derivatives, documentary and grid trading services to 5 million users in more than 100 countries and regions.
- In November this year, it reached a cooperation with UniSat, a BTC ecological wallet, and became one of the first centralized exchanges to support BRC-20 tokens.
Lu Zijian 2024 predictions and observations
2024 is generally expected to be the start of another crypto bull market. As the hot money from the macro market enters the crypto market, it will further accelerate the development of the overall ecology. With regard to the prediction of the future crypto market, the Bitcoin ecology will have more in the future. development, but the short-term inscription market is too hot and many developers and investors are expected to enter the market. Inscriptions with too high a concentration of meme color will not be sustainable. Investors should distinguish between speculation and investment. For projects without long-term goals Long-term holdings should be avoided.
The Bitcoin ecosystem is bound to bring more resources into the encryption field in the future. Inspection suggestions for other public chains such as L2 still need to return to the application level for evaluation. Although flooding TVL will cause misjudgments, TVL is still a relatively feasible indicator. It is recommended to spend more time to clarify, and real users are the best endorsement of each protocol and each public chain.
Although many public chains have launched many activities to continuously increase the number of users, the actual active users are real. It is predicted that high-speed public chain issues in 2024 will return to the public eye. In addition, Depin (decentralized infrastructure) is easy to understand. With the beginning of a new round of bull market, the Gaoben Dream Competition will once again enter the field of vision of new investors. Easy-to-understand projects can always successfully bring newcomers into the circle. This is a key track that cannot be ignored.
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Pinta Chen/BlockTempo Marketing Director
- Served as the marketing director of Dongqu Dongqi, managing its social platforms and thousands of clubs to promote the continued growth of BlockTempo as the world's largest traffic media in the Chinese blockchain.
- In 2023, we will host a number of industry benchmark events: the first "TON Hackathon" in Taipei, the first Bitcoin PizzaDay basketball game in the Chinese community, with more than a thousand people enjoying the event, the launch of "Taiwan Blockchain Industry Map", the second One of the organizing teams of NFT Taipei, the largest "Infinity Block Night" industry exchange party of the year...
Chen Meigan 2024 Predictions and Observations
As blockchain technology and AI continue to be integrated into the Web3 ecosystem, and new narratives continue to emerge in the market, 2024 will contain unprecedented potential.
I am still quite optimistic about the development of games, social networking, finance and entertainment. Games and AI with Web3 elements will be the key to attracting more Web2 institutional investment in 2024.
AI has greatly improved the game user experience, while enhancing the complexity of content creation and the mature use of digital assets; the momentum of game tokenization will further promote the possibility of the encryption market entering a new bull market cycle.
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